SUMATRA, Indonesia — Armed with a machete, some sticky gum and a recording of birdsong on his phone, “Peni” makes his way into the forest. He’s searching for songbirds in the Sumatran jungle, specifically the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus), known locally as murai batu. The popularity of murai batu has boomed in the past decade […]
Category: Wildlife
“It came up with a mako shark in its mouth, eating some, then delivering the rest to – me. What happened next was extraordinary…”
Out of season, the chances of seeing wildlife might be lower but, the encounters can be even more incredible, as these wildlife lovers learned when they came face to face with orcas. Baja California Sur has turned into the world’s hotspot to see orcas up close – and that’s where we were headed, says Andi Cross. […]
How seabird poop helped fuel ancient civilizations in Peru
The Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru are home to many seabird species that cover their island homes with thick layers of poop, or guano. New research now suggests that ancient Peruvians in the Chincha Valley on the Peruvian mainland hunted these seabirds, collected their guano, and used it to fertilize their maize crops, […]
“He approaches slowly.” Filmmakers built a robot otter and released it into the Alaskan sea. What it saw was astonishing
Tool use was once believed to be exclusive to humans, but plenty of animals have since been seen using objects to help them forage for food, clean themselves and create shelter. One of these species is sea otters. While sea otters do eat fish, they prefer to eat clams, mussels and crabs. And as they spend […]
Loosely social animals at higher risk of decline than social species
Social interactions are crucial for the survival of most animal species. Living in groups helps animals spot predators, find food and raise more successful young than they could alone. Conventional wisdom has long held that highly social animals, like lions or capuchin monkeys, are highly vulnerable when their populations decline. But new research suggests that […]
“Millions have been released.” Hawaii’s beautiful birds are dying. But scientists have a controversial plan to save them
About 6-7 million years ago, common rosefinches – which are today found across a vast expanse of northern Eurasia and are even occasional winter visitors to the British Isles – island-hopped their way from the Russian Far East across the Pacific Ocean and arrived in the newly formed, volcanic land masses of Hawaii. There, a […]
NWF Acts to Stop the Silence of Extinction, So Should You
The Rev. Fred Morris, then the president of the Florida Council of Churches, once observed that losing a species to extinction was akin to “tearing a page from the Book of Genesis.” I take these words and the concept of our responsibility to protect and cherish creation and all the wildlife therein very seriously. This […]
Indonesia floods were ‘extinction level’ disturbance for world’s rarest ape
The skull of a Tapanuli orangutan, caked in debris, stares out from a tomb of mud in North Sumatra, killed in catastrophic flooding that swept through Indonesia. The late November floods have been an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest great ape, scientists have said, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects. Between […]